The Five and The Phoenix
by ImagineDragonov
Summary: Fisher, Maverick, Juliet, Taylor, and Patrick meet Percy and Annabeth while on the run and are taken to Camp Half blood where they learn they are the center of a new quest which will take them to Hawaii. New members of the group mean new relationships and some will be betrayed by their friends and family.
1. Chapter 1

**FISHER**

"Fisher!" I jumped up from my seat against a tree at the sound of my name. I tried locating the source of the voice. "Fisher!" I looked over my shoulder and saw my friend Juliet pinned to a tree by some type of Cyclops. I grabbed my bronze sword which was sheathed at my side and made a dash towards Juliet.

"I'm coming Jules! Don't die!" I yelled.

"Fisher!" Juliet screamed as a large club came smashing down towards her.

"Juliet!" I fell to my knees and felt the earth begin to move beneath me. The ground shook violently sending the Cyclops and Juliet to the ground. I stood up relatively easy as the earthquake roared underneath me. A large tree fell and pinned the Cyclops to the ground. I ran towards Juliet without the earthquake affecting me. "Juliet? Are you okay?" I asked as I kneeled at her side.

"Yea. I think I'm okay, but I'm pretty sure my ankle's broken." She replied.

"In what way is that considered being okay?"

" Just help me up."

"Fine." The earthquake ended just as quickly as it had started when I calmed down.

"Seriously Fisher, you need to get this thing under control."

"I'm trying. I think it's like emotionally connected or something." I helped her walk over to a tree by our camp site and started a fire. "I'm going to go finish off that Cyclops. Just wait for the others here. I'll be back in like five minutes."

"Okay. Don't die."

"Yea. Don't die." I left Juliet's side and weaved my way through the thick forest to the location of the Cyclops. I ran through a clearing to find my friend the Cyclops up and moving. Except four of his Cyclops friends were here with him.

"Drake Fisher!" The largest one bellowed. "You will be a fine delicacy! We have been tracking you for months!" I drew my sword and prepared my powers over the earth for a fight.

"I'm nobody's dinner." I said while stomping the ground. The earth shook and knocked two of them off balance. I made a splitting motion with my hands and a wide fissure appeared devouring four of the Cyclops easily. The only one left was my friend that got stuck under the tree. "I'm going to have some fun with you." The Cyclops had a look of genuine fear in his eye as I moved the earth like water. I restrained him with shackles of soil and circled him trying to think of a way to finish him off.

"Release me now!" The Cyclops screamed in a fake act of bravery.

"Not going to happen." I stopped in front of him and raised both my arms in front of me. The ground moved to my command and a jagged spike of earth swiftly impaled the Cyclops's mid-section, quickly dissolving him into dust. I sheathed my sword and turned to leave, but found myself surrounded by teenagers in orange shirts with arrows pointed towards me. I raised my hands in surrender not wanting to anger them. When you're being chased by monsters, you don't always meet other sixteen-year-olds carrying deadly weapons. A very attractive blond girl with gray eyes walked out of the pack and stood in front of me.

"What's your name?" She asked me.

"What's yours?" I replied. She smiled.

"My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." I stared at her for a minute to see if she was joking.

"I'm sorry. Did you say Athena, as in the goddess of wisdom?" Now she seemed a little surprised.

"Yes. I'm surprised you don't know about the Greek gods. You're obviously a very skilled fighter."

"Thank you, but I still don't know what you are talking about when you say Greek gods." She looked back at another guy in the pack. This time, a muscular guy with jet black hair walked out and took Annabeth's hand.

"My name is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and I think it would be a good idea if you came with us. We will explain everything." The guy said. They seemed like nice people and my group has been on the run for a long time.

"On one condition." Percy and Annabeth looked at each other in an amused way.

"Name it." Percy said.

"I have four friends that are traveling with me. One of them broke her ankle and I'm not going anywhere without them." They looked at me with what seemed to be empathy and nodded their heads to what I was saying.

"Of course. Your friends can come too." Annabeth told me. Percy nodded along. By this time, all the teenagers had lowered their weapons. "So, where are they?"

"Right here." A new voice said. We all turned to see my friends walk through the clearing. The voice belonged to my best friend Maverick Holland.

Maverick is basically a copy of me except for his golden hair as opposed to my black hair and sky blue eyes as opposed to my dark green ones. We are the same age, sixteen, and same height at about five-ten. We are both tan and muscular from years of being on the run and training. Maverick had his trusty bow and quiver on hand in case needed but was helping support Juliet at the same time. Maverick is the unofficial medic of the group and was interested in becoming a doctor before this all happened. Maverick would die defending us if he needed to.

Juliet was hopping on one foot at his side but still managed to look beautiful. Jules has beautiful blond hair which cascades down her back and radiant blue eyes. She is very thin and just a few inches shorter than Maverick and I. Juliet hopped over to me and leaned against my side as we stood face to face with the army of teenagers.

Taylor Fields, Maverick's cousin and my good friends stood alongside maverick with her bow and arrow drawn. Taylor has beautiful brown hair and calculating grey eyes like Annabeth. She and Maverick both have an unnatural ability with a bow that has saved us more than a few times. She is about the same height as Jules except two years younger and muscular. She and Jules both have tan skin like Maverick and I from training. It's almost like she was made to fight and she's a great ally to Maverick and I.

Patrick Edwards was Taylor's neighbor and is literally the luckiest person I've ever met. Patrick has short brown hair cut the same way as Maverick and I and glowing green eyes. He is the same age as Taylor and the same height. Somehow he has managed to have ghostly pale skin despite our time in the wilderness. Patrick doesn't fight and neither does Jules but they both contribute a lot to our group.

I guess you could say that Maverick and I kind of lead and protect the group. Maverick and Taylor cover me from the trees and I take them out from close range. It's a pretty good system and we're all really good friends. Jules is an expert at cooking with little to no supplies and Patrick's unnatural luck has its benefits money wise. If we needed to fight we would be ready and this group of twenty would have a hard time in a fight.

My friends walked up and stood at my side with Maverick on my right and Jules leaning on my left.

"What's the plan?" Maverick whispered to me. He was tense and ready to spring into action if needed.

"Stand down. They're friendlies and they want us to go with them." I told him. He relaxed immediately. Maverick walked over to Percy and Annabeth and shook their hands.

"My name's Maverick. This is my cousin Taylor, Patrick, Juliet and you've already met Fisher." Maverick said while pointing us out to the group.

"Why do they call you Fisher? I thought your name was Drake." Percy asked. My friends looked around nervously expecting an earthquake. Percy realized that it was a sensitive topic. "Oh, uh, sorry. I was just curious."

"No, yea, it's fine. It's just…my family died because of these beasts and I'm kind of the last Fisher, you know? I just like going by that name if that makes any sense." I told them.

"I think, in a weird way, it does." Annabeth said.

"So, where are we headed?" Taylor called out, always needing to speak. Annabeth and Percy looked at each other.

"Camp Half-blood. Let's get moving. It's already dark."


	2. Chapter 2

**MAVERICK**

"So, let me get this straight. You have a camp full of teenagers, like us, who fight these monsters?" I asked. Annabeth turned around from in front of the group.

"Yea, it's hard to grasp at first but the Greek gods are real and the five of you are the children of a god or goddess." Annabeth said. "Depending on your godly parent, you might have certain traits, abilities, or talents."

"Do any of you have something unique like that?" Percy asked from alongside Annabeth.

"Well Taylor and I aren't too bad with a bow." I said.

"He's being modest." Fisher said. "They are amazing and Maverick can literally heal any injury. I mean look, Jules is already up on her feet."

"Yea, my ankle feels a lot better." Juliet said.

"Well, if I had to guess, I would say that Maverick and Taylor are children of Apollo. But Taylor doesn't really fit the look. You might be a daughter of Athena like me." Annabeth said.

"Well, we can't leave Fisher out of it. He has the coolest powers out of all of us." I said.

"Like what?" Annabeth asked.

"Fisher can cause earthquakes and basically move the ground." Taylor said joining in the conversation. Annabeth and Percy stopped causing the rest of the group to stop.

"He can create earthquakes?" Percy asked.

"Yea, I can." Fisher said.

"Prove it." Annabeth commanded.

"If you insist." Fisher took a step to the side and Juliet limped over to me for support. Fisher slammed his palm into the ground and the earth shook knocking some of the less coordinated campers to the ground. "I can make it a lot stronger but I don't want anyone getting hurt. It kind of affects everyone."

"Don't hold back I want to see something." Annabeth said. Fisher shook his head and smashed his fist into the earth. Everyone fell to the ground including some trees and only Fisher and Percy were left standing. The two of them looked like they hadn't even been affected.

"Whoa, why didn't you fall over?" Fisher asked Percy. Percy and Annabeth both had a shocked look on their faces. Some of the campers pointed towards Fisher where there was a glowing light. Above Fisher's head, was a glowing green trident. All the campers took a knee except for Percy who walked over to Fisher and gave him a hug. "Whoa, why are you hugging me?"

"Because you're his brother." Annabeth stated. Annabeth pointed at Fisher and addressed the other campers. "Drake Fisher, son of Poseidon." All the campers let out a cheer for Fisher.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"Fisher was claimed by his father. This is crazy. Fisher, you and Percy are the only children of Poseidon." Annabeth said.

"Isn't Poseidon the god of the seas?" Fisher asked.

"Yea but he's also the god of earthquakes. I guess you're just more in touch with your earth shaker side. How are you with water?"

"I can't swim." Annabeth laughed.

"You're joking right?" Fisher shook his head.

"Well that's okay. I can show my new brother when we get back to camp." Percy said.

"Sounds great." Fisher said.

"It's like Fisher can control the earth and Percy can control the water, but when Percy uses his earth shaker powers its unpredictable and dangerous. That's probably how Fisher is going to be with water." Annabeth said.

"So, I can't swim." Fisher asked.

"You and I were literally born to be in water. We're spending every waking moment in the lake." Percy said.

"Fine by me." Fisher said. "How much longer until we get to this legendary camp?"

"It's on the other side of Thalia's pine." Annabeth said while pointing at a large pine tree with a gold shimmering shape.

"What's that gold thing?" I asked.

"That's the golden fleece. Percy and I got it on a quest."

"You and Percy got THE golden fleece?"

"Yea, we're kind of awesome." Percy said, swinging his arm around Annabeth as we passed the pine tree. "Don't be surprised when you see a centaur running towards us."

"Don't worry. I don't think anything can really surprise us anymore." Juliet said. I had to nod in agreement at that. We've seen everything from a Cyclops to a hellhound since leaving home. As if on cue, a centaur came galloping towards our group. All of the camper disbanded and left leaving Percy, Annabeth, Fisher, Juliet, Taylor, Patrick, and I to face the horse man. He came in front of us shook hands with Percy and Annabeth before acknowledging us.

"Hello, my name is Chiron. Who might you be?" Chiron asked. Fisher and I stepped forward.

"My name is Maverick Holland…" I said.

"…and my name is Drake Fisher." Fisher said.

"This is my cousin Taylor Fields, and our friends Juliet Hart and Patrick Edwards." I finished our introductions.

"Claimed?" Chiron asked.

"Just me." Fisher told him.

"And who might your godly parent be?"

"Poseidon." Chiron's jaw hit the ground if possible.

"Another child of Poseidon? This does not bode well."

"What's wrong Chiron?" Annabeth asked. Chiron faced us with a serious look on his face.

"I know of a prophecy that which is only to be revealed when there are two children of the sea. I'm afraid there is another urgent quest and if a second child of the sea is here we don't have much time." Chiron began pacing around nervously. "Annabeth, go prepare the campers for battle. They must be on high alert until this quest is carried out. Percy, go contact our allies at camp Jupiter. I will go retrieve the prophecy. Meet in the recreation room it is of the upmost importance that you seven are there." Annabeth, Percy, and Chiron all departed leaving our group alone again.

"So, what do we do now?" Taylor asked.

"I guess we have to go find the rec room." I said. I noticed a group of girls all around the same age of about thirteen headed into camp, all wearing silver clothing. "Maybe they can point us in the right direction." Taylor walked over to the girl leading the group as we followed.

"Excuse me, but do you by any chance know where the rec room is?" Taylor asked in her completely fake polite voice. The girl faced her as if surprised someone tried to talk to her before a look of fear and shock flashed on her face. The girl just stared at Taylor in complete surprise. Taylor got impatient quickly. "Hey, hello, earth to silver girl, can you show us where the rec room is?" The girl shook her head as if shaking out of a trance.

"Yea, it's in the big house. Taylor, stay safe." The girl said. The group departed as soon as they showed up.

"Okay, what was that about? And how did she know your name? I asked.

"I don't know." Taylor said. "Did she seem familiar to you guys?" We all shook our heads.

"I've never seen her before but let's not worry about it. We have to get to the big house. I think something big is going on." We ran into the big house and quickly made our way to the rec room. Percy and Annabeth were sitting in seats around the ping pong table and there were five empty chairs against the back wall.

"Oh, look, we have reserved seating." Fisher said sarcastically. We all sat down at the empty seats anyway. Percy and Annabeth were talking quietly to each other as the door opened and three new people walked in. One of them was a beautiful Cherokee girl with a shiny dagger in her hand. She was talking to a tan muscular guy with blond hair who was fiddling with a coin. Next to him was a Hispanic guy with oil all over his clothes and I'm pretty sure part of his shirt was on fire. The sat down in their respective seats and greeted Annabeth and Percy. The Hispanic guy was the first to notice us in the room.

"Hey, who are the new campers?" He asked. Percy stood up and walked over to Fisher.

"This is Fisher, my new brother, and his friends Maverick, Juliet, Taylor, and Patrick." Percy said.

"Great, there's another son of Poseidon." The blond guy commented.

"Hey, Poseidon's sons are amazing." Fisher said and high fived Percy. Juliet slapped Fisher in the back of the head. "Ow, Jules, what was that for?"

"For letting your head get full of water." Juliet said.

"Well, if that happened then Fisher would drown." Taylor taunted.

"Shut up! I will learn how to swim!" Fisher exclaimed.

"Anyway, this is Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, and Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus." The Hispanic guy, Leo, walked over and kissed Juliet's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Leo said. The ground began to shake very mildly. Everyone looked at Fisher. I grabbed Fisher's arm and led him out of the room.

"Excuse us a second." I said. By the time we were out of the big house, the shaking had stopped. I faced Fisher. "You have got to get this under control. You can't just lose it because you get jealous like that.

"I wasn't jealous." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Just don't lose your cool over a pretty girl okay? I turned around because of someone tapping me on the shoulder. Standing in front of me was Piper McLean and I only now noticed how breathtaking she was. Her chocolate brown hair was braided down her back and her eyes changed color every time I looked at them. She was gorgeous.

"Hey, you're Maverick right? Um, everyone's here and we're going to start if you guys are done." She said. I couldn't help but stare at her.

"Yea, we're ready when you are." I said. She smiled at me.

"You have a really nice smile, you know that?" That caught me off guard. She gasped and took a step back. I thought it was because of what she said but then I noticed the golden light shining above my head. I didn't even have to look up. I know a lot when it comes to Greek mythology and I had the same guess as everyone as to who my godly parent is.

"Nice you got claimed man." Fisher said and gave me a high five.

"Son of Apollo, hot." Piper said. She looked scared for a second. "I mean the sun's hot and you're the son of the sun god and…um, I'm just going to go in. See you inside." She nervously walked away to the big house.

"Nice." I said to myself.

"Not good man. That Jason guy is not someone you want to get on your bad side." Fisher advised.

"Relax nothing even happened."

"Just don't lose your cool over a pretty girl okay?"

"Shut up. We have a prophecy to read. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

JULIET

I watched as Fisher and Maverick returned to the rec room. All of the seven took their seats around the table and Fisher took a seat next to me in the back of the room.

"So, these are the famous seven?" Fisher whispered to me. I nodded. "Then who are they?" I looked in the direction that Fisher was pointing and saw two girls wearing silver enter the room. One of them was the girl we saw leading the group earlier and the other had spiky black hair. The girl with spiky hair walked over and hugged Jason and the others in the room bowed to the other girl in silver.

"Who's the silver girl?" Taylor called out to the room. Everyone in the room gave Taylor a worried look. The girl with spiky hair stormed over to Taylor.

"This is Lady Artemis and I would ask that you show her some respect." The girl warned.

"Who's Artemis?"

"You cannot possibly be a demigod." Taylor stood up and got in the girl's face.

"I've been hunted by monsters as long as I can remember. I'm just as much of a demigod as anyone else in this room."

"You are inexperienced and will get killed on this quest."

"You're Jason's sister right?"

"Yes, I'm Thalia, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis."

"Well, from what I've heard, you're an expert in the whole dying thing right? I mean you were a tree at one point." Thalia started laughing.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Don't you need me for your little quest or something?"

"Ladies stop, you're both beautiful." Percy said. Annabeth punched him in the stomach.

"Now, if everyone is ready, we have a prophecy to read." Chiron stated. "But foremost, we must introduce our new friends. This is Fisher, Maverick, Juliet, Taylor, and Patrick."

"Claimed?" An Asian guy asked.

"Yes, Fisher is my brother, son of Poseidon." Percy announced proudly.

"Maverick here is a son of Apollo." Fisher said trying to divert some of the stares.

"The rest have yet to be claimed." Annabeth told the room. Piper was staring at me for some reason.

"Oh, sorry, your necklace is just so beautiful." Piper told me. "Where did you get it?"

"Fisher bought it for me." I looked over at Fisher who was gazing at the floor.

"That's a really expensive necklace. Where did you get that kind of money?"

"Patrick is unnaturally lucky. It comes in handy some times."

"What do you mean by that?" Jason asked.

"I'm a pretty good gambler." Patrick said.

"He finally speaks." Leo said.

"We've hit the casinos a few times. Patrick doesn't lose." There was suddenly a glowing light above Patrick and the image of a Cornucopia.

"Well, this was certainly unexpected." Chiron said. "All hail Patrick, the first son of Tyche, goddess of luck and fortune."

"Hey, how come I didn't get a cool introduction?" Maverick asked.

"Because you were flirting when you got claimed." Fisher responded.

"I was not flirting."

"Come on, who's the lucky lady?" Jason asked. Fisher started choking.

"Uh, no one important. We have a prophecy to read, right?" Maverick changed the subject.

"That is correct. This prophecy has been with me since we first moved to America." Chiron said. "Annabeth, would you do the honors?"

"Of course, I will." Annabeth said as she unrolled the scroll containing the prophecy.

_"Seven shall embark to the islands in the west. _

_ The brothers of the sea shall lead the quest."_

"You heard the prophecy. We're going to Hawaii!" Percy said and high fived Fisher.

"Who are the other five going to be?" Jason asked.

_"Cousins of the sun and moon assist._

_ Daughter of wisdom cannot resist."_

"Well, obviously Annabeth is the daughter of wisdom." Piper said.

"Everyone here is considered cousins because of their godly heritage, so that could be anyone." Annabeth said.

"What if it's referring to real cousins like Taylor and I?" Maverick asked.

"The sun part would make sense for Maverick, but what could the moon be? I mean, Artemis doesn't have any children. Right, my Lady?" Thalia asked. Artemis said nothing.

"Is there something that you're not sharing with us Lady Artemis?" Leo asked mischievously. Artemis looked at the floor and then at Taylor.

"It has only happened once. I fell in love with a man named Arthur Fields." Artemis said. "Taylor, you are my daughter." On command a silver moon appeared over Taylor's head.

"Oh my gods, how can you have a daughter?" Thalia shrieked.

"Oh my gods, how can I be your daughter?" Taylor mimicked.

"This has taken a rather sharp turn. It would appear that so far we have Percy and Fisher leading the group of Annabeth, Maverick, and Taylor." Chiron said.

"Which means, we still need two more quest members." Annabeth finished.

_"Two daughters of love will be in need._

_ Son of thunder has a different deed."_

"Fairly simple. We need two daughters of Aphrodite and Jason has a different quest, so I would guess one of the daughters is Piper." Chiron said.

"So far, everyone on the quest has been in this room." Fisher said. "My guess is that Jules is a daughter of Aphrodite and the seventh member."

"Why do you assume that I'm a daughter of Aphrodite?" I asked.

"Firstly because you look like the daughter of the love goddess and secondly you've just been claimed." Sure enough the symbol for Aphrodite was flashing over my head.

"The team for the quest is settled, Percy, Fisher, Maverick, Taylor, Annabeth, Piper, and Juliet. Annabeth, can you finish the prophecy for us?" Chiron said.

_"One can control the phoenix's fire,_

_ Children of lightning's final retire,_

_ Nature calls for the son of the king,_

_ Misery, the son of luck shall bring,_

_ The phoenix determines who prevails,_

_ Army of fortune succeeds or fails."_

Everyone looked towards the son of Tyche. Patrick stood of from his seat and addressed the room.

"We have been on the run for so long and it's all the gods' fault. They have to be punished for what they have done."

"We all have hard lives Patrick. What is the prophecy talking about, an army?" Percy asked. Patrick laughed.

"Yes, an army. My army will find the phoenix and destroy it and then we will storm Olympus and destroy it."

"Patrick, what the Hades man?" Fisher said. "When did you become so evil?"

"The gods are the evil ones with everything that they have done."

"Yea, well listen closely Patrick. This whole switching to the dark side is a huge surprise but there is no way that you have an army that will storm Olympus." Percy said.

"That is where you're wrong. I've gathered some of the most fearsome and legendary creatures from history to battle alongside me. The gods cannot interfere. We will take Olympus in one night exactly a week from now. Your only chance is capturing the phoenix and somehow training to fight for you and even then you don't stand much of a chance. Goodbye, my former friends." With that, Patrick vanished into thin air.

"I can't believe Patrick would do something like this." I said.

"Well, believe it because it's happening." Leo said.

"We need to get the phoenix and apparently Artemis needs Jason for something." Annabeth said.

"Are we just going to skip over the part where it says that Jason and I are going to die?" Thalia said. Piper and Taylor had tears in their eyes but for different reasons.

"Lady Artemis, what do you need me for?" Jason asked.

"Lycaon and the rest of the werewolves are working for Patrick. They have been sent to kill the phoenix while the rest of the army assembles. That is not the worst part, however." Artemis said. "The Vrykolakas have also joined them in the pursuit. Jason will accompany my hunt it tracking down the groups and we will meet up with the quest members in Hawaii."

"What are Vrykolakas?" Fisher asked.

"They're like werewolves and vampires mixed together. Not fun." Annabeth said.

"The quest members will depart immediately. Jason will accompany the hunt in their mission. Frank and Hazel shall return to Camp Jupiter and inform them of the impending battle. Leo can just keep doing whatever Leo does." Chiron announced. "Good luck and Thalia and Jason, please do be careful. You're under good protection with the hunt." Percy stood up.

"Alright, let's go capture a phoenix."


	4. Chapter 4

FISHER

Jason and Thalia said their goodbyes to everyone as we were preparing to leave. The seven seemed like a very close group and I knew that they would be devastated if something happened. Juliet, Maverick, Taylor, and I all left the big house to leave the group time together.

"That's horrible, poor Piper must be devastated." Juliet said. I swung my arms around Juliet and Maverick who were walking at my side.

"This has been a crazy day for us too. I found out that I have a brother. Taylor is the daughter of a virgin goddess." I said and high fived Taylor. "Maverick is already trying to get with half the girls at the camp and Patrick completely betrayed us."

"First of all, hitting on one girl is not half the girls at camp." Maverick said.

"So, you were hitting on her."

"Whatever, how are we going to get to Hawaii anyway? Isn't it like a rule that children of Poseidon can't fly?"

"Yes, it is. That's why we're going to drive there." Annabeth said coming from behind us.

"We have a week and the drive to California is like two days. How is that going to work?" Juliet asked.

"There is absolutely no way we are taking the Labyrinth." Percy said joining the group.

"Yea, I'm not a fan of dark tunnels anyway." Piper said finishing the group. She had obviously been crying.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance." A new voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a man who appeared to be glowing standing in front of a ridiculously expensive car.

"That's an amazing ride but who are you?" Taylor asked. The man looked at Taylor.

"So, this is my little sister's kid. How about a hug for your uncle?" The man said.

"You're Apollo." Juliet realized.

"Dad?" Maverick asked. Apollo took off his sunglasses and looked at Maverick.

"Maverick, I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you, but I've been watching you and I couldn't be more proud." Apollo said.

"It's okay, I understand and thanks dad." Apollo nodded.

"That reminds me, I brought gifts." Apollo raised his hands above his hand and a golden bow and quiver appeared. "These are for you Maverick. The quiver's enchanted so that it doesn't run out of arrows. Try it out and try to tell me you've used a better bow." Maverick slung the quiver on and tried out the bow. Of course, he hit the target in the bull's eye.

"This is amazing. Thanks dad."

"No problem. Just don't tell your siblings." Maverick nodded.

"Don't I get a majestic bow like my cousin?" Taylor asked. Artemis walked past and tossed an identical silver bow and quiver to Taylor.

"Same deal." Artemis said nonchalantly. Taylor ran over and hugged Artemis.

"Thanks mom." Taylor said. For the first time, Artemis didn't seem so awkward with the situation and hugged Taylor back.

"You're welcome and remember you are my daughter and have an automatic position in my hunt if you want it." Poseidon and Aphrodite appeared next to Artemis and Apollo.

"Well, this is nice the whole family's here." Percy said.

"We have gifts as well." Poseidon said and tossed a watch to me. "It's kind of similar to Riptide. Click the face of the watch to activate." I did as he was told and a shimmering gold spear appeared in my hand. "The spear is magically connected to the watch. If you throw it, you can just reach for it and it will fly back into your hand."

"Sweet." Aphrodite clapped.

"Now me." She said. A bag appeared in her hand and she whispered something to Juliet. "I know that you're not much of a fighter but there is a dagger in there too. I know Piper will be watch out for you." Aphrodite turned to look at me. "You better not hurt my daughter." Then she looked at Maverick. "Either of you." Then she smiled like nothing happened. "Bye everyone and good luck." Poseidon and Aphrodite vanished leaving our group with the Artemis and Apollo.

"We are heading out. It will take us about five days to reach Hawaii while hunting the pack." Artemis said. "You will have a few days head start on us there." Artemis's hunt emerged from the cabin and walked towards Artemis. Jason also left the big house with Thalia to meet up with the hunt. "Good luck." Artemis's hunt, including Jason, stormed out of the camp in search of the enemy.

"How are we going to have a head start? We still have no way of getting there." Annabeth said.

"I said, leave that to me." Apollo said. He tossed a pair of keys to Maverick and flashed a glaring smile. "This ride's all yours. It will get you there in plenty of time. Apollo out." I looked at Maverick.

"Your dad is so weird." He shrugged.

"Hey, at least we got a sweet ride now." Maverick said and jumped in the front seat.

"Uh, Maverick? Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Piper asked.

"No idea." Maverick responded. "There's only one way to find out."

"Shotgun!" Percy and I both said at the same time. Juliet and Annabeth hit us.

"You two idiots are sitting with us in the back." Annabeth said.

"Yes, ma'am." I said and climbed in next to Juliet. Piper sat next to Maverick in the passenger seat. Percy, Annabeth and Taylor were all standing outside the car.

"Aren't you guys coming? I'm pretty sure we need you." I said.

"There's not enough room in your Porsche, Maverick." Annabeth said.

"Hmm, let me try something." Maverick said. He pressed a button and the car transformed into an armed military car.

"Are you kidding? You can't drive this thing across the country." Annabeth said.

"Uh, fine." Maverick said and pressed another button. The car transformed into a black van.

"Now, we are going to look like pedophiles."

"Oh my gods, is there any way of pleasing you."

"The answer to that is no." Percy said and earned a punch in the stomach from Annabeth.

"Oh, I have a better idea." Maverick said and hit another button. The van transformed into a small plane with Maverick and Piper sitting in the cockpit. "This is your pilot, Maverick, speaking. We will begin departure in two minutes. That's two minutes. We will begin departure in two minutes. Thank you that is all."

"We can't fly Maverick. Uncle Zeus will blow us out of the sky." Percy said.

"Luke, I am your father."

"Oh my gods, you're so immature, Maverick." Juliet said.

"Actually, Luke's father is Hermes." Percy said.

"You just had to bring look up didn't you?" Annabeth said.

"Oh, here we go!"

"Can we please just take off already?" Piper asked.

"We seriously can't fly." I said.

"With me as your pilot we can." Maverick said.

"I know a thing or two about flying also." Piper said.

"There you go. Piper and I got this. It's the only way we get there on time."

"He's right let's just go." Annabeth said. No questioned it but Percy and I exchanged a nervous look.

"Do you really think that Maverick can get us there with Zeus blasting at us?" Percy asked.

"Absolutely not." I replied.

"That's what I figured." We all boarded the plane anyway. Juliet and I sat next to each other with Percy and Annabeth on the other side of the aisle. Taylor decided to take a nap behind us.

"Please fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride." Piper said over the intercom.

"Not you too. Maverick, you're corrupting all my friends." Annabeth groaned.

"I'm sorry but the captain can't here while he is being awesome and flying a plane." Maverick said over the intercom.

"Like father, like son." Annabeth said. I could definitely see how Maverick is Apollo's kid.

We flew without any trouble for a few hours. Maverick was surprisingly a great pilot. Either Piper is the best copilot in history or Maverick inherited some natural flying skills from Apollo. Juliet fell asleep on my shoulder and Annabeth did the same to Percy. Percy was still awake probably for the same reason as me.

"You still nervous about flying?" I whispered to Percy.

"Yea, but I got to say, Maverick is a good pilot." Percy whispered.

"That's my boy." We stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Are you worried about Jason and Thalia?" Percy nodded. "Prophecies usually have double meanings right? Final retire could mean a lot of things." Percy nodded but didn't really seem convinced.

"I've lost a lot of friends you know? I'm always worried it could happen again. If I lost Annabeth I don't know what I would do. I'm really glad I met you though. I really need a brother for something like this."

"I know what you mean. You're not the only one who has lost someone close to you to those _things."_

"What do you mean?" I sighed.

"Well, my mom didn't want me to know about any of this stuff. She thought that by not telling me it would all go away or something." I started choking up. "She was so ignorant. She thought they wouldn't come or something just because I didn't know about them."

"Was? Thought? As in past tense?" I nodded.

"I'm sorry, bro. I can't really relate to losing a family member like that."

"It's okay. It's just always been this burden you know? Like, if she had told me, I could have left and then that thing wouldn't have come and killed my family. My mother and sister both dead because of me."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but if I ever find the thing that did that to them. I will kill it and every last one of them."

"Do you know what it was? I could help." I shook my head.

"I've only ever seen one of them. It was a girl I think and it had…snakes where her hair should have been. Just these horrible red snakes that were hissing as she killed my family."

"Snakes for hair?" I nodded. "Are you familiar with Medusa?"

"Yea, I've heard of her and I thought it was her for a long time, but then I was thinking. I looked at her and I didn't turn to stone, my family didn't turn to stone, so how could it be her?"

"It can't but it might be someone like her." Percy nudged Annabeth awake.

"What do you want Percy?" Annabeth mumbled.

"Didn't Medusa have sisters?" Percy asked.

"Yea, but you killed her don't tell me that you're having nightmares or something."

"I'm not having nightmares."

"You killed Medusa?" I asked. Annabeth nodded.

"It was pretty hot."

"Okay, Annabeth, you can go back to sleep now." Percy said.

"No, wait. Annabeth, did any of these sisters have red snakes for hair." I asked. Annabeth sat up.

"Yea, why do you ask?" Percy and I looked at each other.

"What's her name?"

"Stheno, she killed more than both her sisters combined. Again, why do you ask?"

"She killed my family and now I have to kill her."

"We have your back every step of the way." Percy told me. Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"Than-

Suddenly the plane jerked sending Taylor on the floor and waking Juliet up.

"Watch where you're flying Maverick!" Taylor yelled. We heard Maverick over the intercom.

"This is your captain speaking. We are experiencing some minor turbulence." There was a static noise like the microphone was being moved.

"This is Piper. We just got struck by lightning. This is not minor turbulence. The plane is going down!" There was a static noise again.

"This is Maverick again. You guys are going to jump. We're about a mile from Maui. Percy can get you guys there. I'm going to put this in the ocean." We all started scrambling to open the door. Percy was the first one out so that he could cushion us from the fall. Annabeth jumped out right after him. Taylor jumped out without evening worrying about the situation. Piper came out of the cockpit with tears in her eyes.

"We can't just leave Maverick. What if he can't land it?" She said.

"Don't worry. I trust Maverick and I know he can land it."

"I can't just leave him!"

"Yes you can." Tears were streaming down her face now. "Don't be mad." She gave me a confused look. I grabbed her by the wrist and jumped out of the plane. As we fell all I could here was here sobbing.

"How could you do this? He is your friend." A large wave shot up and carried us safely to the rest of the group.

"He is my friend and I know that he is going to be just fine." As I said that, the plane hit the water and a large explosion surged across the sky.

"Maverick!" Piper yelled.

I watched as the plane and my best friend disappeared underneath the waves.


	5. Chapter 5

MAVERICK

I've woken up in some pretty strange places before but in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean was a new one. I guess when the plane hit the water it transformed or something and I must have gotten knocked out. All around me was pure darkness and I figured out that I had only been knocked out for about ten minutes. I turned on the lights and illuminated the darkness. I steered the submarine to the surface and transformed again into a ship. I'm pretty diverse when it comes to driving things. I headed to a beach on Maui and literally drove onto the beach after changing into a nice convertible. It was dark by the time I had gotten to the island. I parked at a diner and walked in to get something to eat. As soon as I entered, I overheard a few conversations about the same topic.

"Did you see those kids? They just walked right out of the ocean! Two of them weren't even wet!" I heard to elderly people say. Those would be my friends, terrible at not attracting attention.

"Excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear about these people. Do you happen to know which way they are headed?" I asked.

"Oh, sure! They walked into a restaurant up the street. Two of them were completely dry and the others sopping wet. I felt so bad. It looked like a few of them were in tears."

"Thank you. You've been a big help." I bolted out of the restaurant and hopped in my convertible. I drove to the closest restaurant and parked. I walked in and the place was packed but I still noticed my friends sitting at a booth in the corner not saying a word. I walked over to them nonchalantly and stopped when I overheard them talking about me.

"I just can't believe he's gone. He was the best friends I ever had." Fisher said.

"I'm really sorry guys. He seemed like a really cool guy." Percy said.

"I don't see how this happened. The prophecy didn't say he would die." Annabeth said and leaned on Percy.

"Maverick was with us so long…how…how can he be gone?" Juliet was in tears and started crying into Fisher's shirt. Taylor was silent and just stared at her lap, trying and failing to hold back tears. What killed me was how Piper was reacting.

"He…he…I…" Was all Piper got out before she broke down. I decided to make myself known. Normally I would do something funny like say how Piper leaves me speechless too, but now was not the time for that.

"I'm glad you all care about me so much." I said. All of them turned their heads to face and had a large spectrum of reactions. Fisher looked overjoyed while Annabeth looked confused like she didn't understand how I was alive. Thanks Annabeth. Piper lunged out of the booth and tackled me in a flying hug. She cried into my chest as I held her.

"We thought…I thought…I'm so happy you're alive." Piper said.

"Missed you too, Pipes." I said.

"Thank the gods, you're okay." Fisher said.

"Thank my dad. I blacked out during the crash, the plane turned into a submarine when it hit the water."

"You mean…" Percy began.

"Yea, the chariot is outside." Percy bolted out of the booth.

"My stuff!"

"Wow, thanks Percy. I'm glad that you're alive too." Percy was already out of the restaurant.

"He realizes that he doesn't know what the car looks like right?" Juliet asked.

"No, probably not." Annabeth answered.

"So, we have to go find this phoenix right?" I asked.

"Yea, I've been thinking. What do you usually associate the phoenix with?" Annabeth asked.

"It dies by fire, right?" Piper asked.

"Exactly, so where do we look in Hawaii for something fire related?"

"A volcano." Fisher said.

"Bingo, but the question is which volcano and where is it located?"

"Mauna Loa, it's the largest volcano. If I was a bird of fire, that's where I would be hanging out. We have to head to the main Hawaiian Island though." I said.

"Great, let's get moving." We walked out of the diner in time to see Percy drive up in the car.

"Dibs on driving." Percy said.

"Okay, I don't know how you started the car, but you're not touching my wheels Jackson." I said. Percy frowned. "Actually you can drive for a little bit." I pressed one of the many buttons and the luxury car turned into a limousine. We all climbed in the back where we were greeted with all kinds of snacks and drinks for the road.

"Whoa, the limo comes with perks." Percy said.

"Yea and you get to drive." I said and rolled up the shield blocking the driver from the passengers. Percy rolled it back down.

"You tricked me."

"You can drive the boat when we hit the water. I think that's more your style anyway." We made our way off the island and, with Percy's water abilities, managed to get to the main island. Percy drove us to Mauna Loa at around midnight. Piper fell asleep on my shoulder as did Juliet with Fisher. Taylor and Annabeth were both sprawled out taking a nap as well. Fisher and I plus Percy driving were the only ones awake.

"How much longer, Percy?" Fisher asked.

"A few minutes bro. We're almost there." Percy responded.

"So, Fisher, things are moving along quite nicely with Juliet." I said. Fisher glanced at Juliet asleep at his side. I'm the only one Fisher has ever told about his crush on Juliet but it's impossible to miss how great they are for each other.

"Yea, I really like her."

"I know, Fisher."

"It's kind of obvious." Percy said.

"Whatever, what about you and Piper? You two seem awfully close." Fisher said.

"We're just friends. You know that she's with Jason. Tell him that he's being ridiculous Percy." I said.

"I don't know. You guys do seem really close." Percy said.

"Jason's your friend. You want me and Piper to get together?"

"Jason was my friend and yes, I want you and Piper together, or at least I want her away from Jason."

"Whoa, where is that coming from? What happened, Perce?" Fisher asked. Percy sighed.

"About a week before you guys showed up, Annabeth and I were in my cabin and I heard Jason and Piper yelling in the Zeus cabin. I went to go make sure that they were okay and Annabeth stayed in my cabin…I walked in, just in time, to see Jason hit her. I mean, demigods fight all the time, but that's training. This was different, you know? He has no right to do that and that's not all. Overall he's been different recently and I'm getting worried for Piper."

"That's horrible." Fisher said. I was fuming at the thought of Jason hitting her.

"Yea, I know it's terrible, but I'm kind of hoping the part were Jason retires comes true." Percy said.

"Wow Percy, that's kind of dark." I said.

"I don't like when people hurt my friends. As far as I'm concerned, he's no better than all the other monsters we fight. Anyway, we're here." Percy pulled over.

"Just know that we're here for you man." I told him. He nodded.

"Thanks I appreciate that."

"What time is it?" Fisher asked.

"Midnight." Percy responded.

"Is it a full moon tonight?" The three of us stepped out of the car without waking the others.

"Yea, I think it is. Why?" I asked. Fisher pointed behind me.

"That's why." I turned around and found the pack of werewolves led by Lycaon. There was at least three wolves for everyone one of us.

"Where are your vampire friends?" Percy asked. Lycaon showed his blood red teeth.

"You will see them soon enough." Lycaon said. The three of us prepared for a fight. "Not so fast. You will come with us peacefully to our lair."

"Why would we do that?" I said.

"Well we happen to have some very important guests with us."

"Who would those be?"

"The hunt of Artemis." He said nonchalantly.

"You overpowered the hunt?" Percy asked.

"Of course, including Artemis and Zeus's kids."

"How?" Fisher asked.

"We had a little help. Now, come with us and bring your friends." We all looked at each other and realized we had no choice. Percy nodded to Lycaon.

"Excellent let's get moving."

The seven of us walked into the cave with our hands tied up and were strapped to a metal pole attached to the ceiling. Thalia and Jason were tied up next to us and Artemis was bonded to the floor by a special kind of chain which she could not break.

"Where's the rest of the hunt?" I asked. Lycaon walked over and slashed me across the chest with his claws. I screamed in pain. The claws ripped open my skin like sharp knives.

"You shall be quiet. To answer your question, the vampires are consuming their blood and leaving the meat to my pack. Thalia threw up along with Taylor. Annabeth looked stunned and Piper was silently crying next to Taylor. On my left, Fisher had a horrified expression and on my right, Percy was struggling against his chains in anger. Jason had a blank expression on his face which seemed the most disturbing to me.

"You're a monster." Annabeth said.

"I know, but monsters have to eat too." Lycaon said as he walked back and forth menacingly. "I just prefer my meat a little more…rare."

"What does that mean?" Thalia asked.

"The rest of my pack may be fine with dining on the hunters but I think you can taste the power in the meat." Lycaon stopped in front of Annabeth and licked her cheek as if sampling a flavor. Percy began to thrash like crazy.

"If you touch her, I swear to Zeus…" Percy threatened.

"You couldn't do anything but I have already decided who I will consume. I am sorry to say that your journey ends today…Piper McLean. It will not be a quick death I'm afraid."

"You're not touching Piper." I warned him. I noticed Jason staying silent with the same blank expression.

"I knew I would get a reaction like that. Tell you what; I'm going to sweeten the deal. If one of you chooses to lay down your life for your friend Piper, I will eat you instead. Doesn't that sound tempting?" Everyone looked at Jason expectantly except for Percy who was angrily staring at the ceiling as if he already knew that Piper was a goner. "I will give you a moment to think this over."

"Real chivalrous Jason. No one's asking you to lay down your life but could you at least show some emotion?" Percy asked angrily.

"What do you want from me?" Jason asked.

"I want you to man up and say something. Your girlfriend is about to die and you don't even care."

"You're right." Jason put his head down. "I don't care." Jason said with dark voice.

"What the Hades, Jason. What happened to you?" Thalia asked frightened. Piper burst into tears and it tore me apart.

"No one has to die for me I'll do it." Piper said.

"No." Percy and I said at the same time.

"Percy, I don't like that look in your eye." Annabeth warned.

"I'm not going to watch another one of my friends die. I couldn't stop it when Bianca died or Zoe or Beckendorf or Silena but I can now and I'm not going to let it happen again." Percy said. Annabeth's eyes filled with tears.

"Don't be stupid Percy." I said. He looked at me with a hurt expression. "If you die, too many people will miss you. You're the co-leader of this quest, the leader of the camp; you have a brother, a girlfriend who would be crushed if you died. You've done too many incredible things to die here and you can't do it." Percy's eyes seemed to tear up a bit too. "I will."

"Maverick, don't." Fisher told me.

"It's okay. I just assist on this quest you will be fine without me." Lycaon walked back in the room.

"Have you decided who my dinner is going to be?" I looked him right in his beady wolf eyes.

"I am."


	6. Chapter 6

JULIET

"I am."

"I respect that you wish to die for your friend, but sadly I still need to eat." Lycaon said.

"Okay, just let my friends go." Maverick said. Lycaon nodded.

"Of course."

"This is ridiculous. We're not letting you die!" Percy said.

"No one is stopping you." Jason said. Percy began struggling against his chains but not to get to Lycaon this time.

"The second we get out of this cave I will kill you Jason Grace." Percy warned.

"I'll be right behind you on that one." I said.

"Jason's messed up but he's still my brother." Thalia said.

"For every word you say, I'm putting an arrow in your back." Taylor warned Jason.

"I'm glad that you're all turning on each other, really I am, but I would like to start eating." Lycaon said.

"Don't you want to let us all go?" Piper asked, voice dripping with charm speak.

"Nice try but that sort of thing isn't going to work on me."

"How about I try something?" Fisher said. He looked like you was trying and struggling to lift an imaginary weight.

"If you haven't noticed I have you all in magical shackles. Your powers will not work."

"Maybe there's wont but mine will." A new voice said. Before anyone had time to react there was a stygian iron sword sticking out of Lycaon's mid-section. Lycaon dispersed into a pile of golden dust.

"Nico!" Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Thalia called. Nico calmly walked over and freed everyone from their shackles with the exception of Jason.

"It's great to see you." Thalia said and hugged Nico.

"Great to see you guys too." Nico said.

"The hunters." Annabeth warned. Annabeth, Percy, Taylor, Fisher, and the newly freed Artemis rushed into another section of the cave leaving Maverick, Piper, Thalia, Nico, and I alone with a chained Jason. I stood in the dark entrance to another part of the cave to silently watch what was about to happen. Maverick walked up to Jason who was sitting on his knees and kicked him hard in the chest. Maverick began delivering kick after kick and punch after punch until Jason was a bloody mess spitting blood on the floor. Thalia kneeled down in front of Jason with tears in her eyes.

"Jason, what happened to you?" Thalia asked.

"I finally decided where I belong." Jason said with blood flowing from his mouth. "I'm not Roman and I'm not Greek. I don't live in the shadow of Jackson. I'm the leader. I'm the one with all the power."

"Jason, that's your fatal flaw. Going power hungry like this is taking a toll on you." Piper remained quiet but had a steady stream of tears on her face. Jason started laughing.

"Hey, Nico, what's your fatal flaw?" Jason asked. Nico started laughing evilly.

"Holding grudges." Nico said. "I still do. It's Percy's fault. He's ruining people's lives."

"Nico, not you too. Please." Thalia begged.

"Percy is saving lives, not ruining them." Maverick defended quickly.

"You're a fool." Nico said and slammed his sword into Thalia's back. Thalia crumpled to the ground with sword protruding from her chest.

"Thalia!" Piper yelled. She made a wild slash at Nico who slammed the hilt of his sword on Piper's head. Piper crumpled to the ground. I stood in shock as Maverick aimed his arrow at Nico and Jason. Nico turned to say something to Jason and shadow traveled away. Maverick aimed his arrow at Jason's head. Everyone returned with tear stricken faces to see the new scene of horror in front of them.

"Go ahead Maverick." Jason said. Maverick did nothing. "I knew it. You're weak. You don't have what it takes to let the arrow go." Everyone silently watched confrontation in front of them. "I don't understand what Piper sees in you." Jason leaned closer to Maverick. "I would have killed her. Probably would have pretended to go on a date, get her away from everyone, and kill her. I would have blamed it on a monster." He was seriously getting in Mavericks head. Maverick was literally shaking with anger. "But it doesn't matter, you won't kill me." Maverick aimed the arrow at Jason thigh and let it go. The arrow lodged itself deeply in Jason's leg. Jason screamed in pain and then started laughing. "I knew you couldn't do it. You can't kill me. You never will." Now, Maverick started laughing.

"Don't be so sure. That arrow is coated in poison. Right now, it is slowly coursing its way through your body. I can kill you. I just want to make you suffer." Jason's face morphed into one of complete fear. "If you thought that the arrow breaking your skin was bad, just wait until the toxins kick in. Your skin will feel like it's on fire, your muscles will be torn apart from the inside, your bones will feel like liquid, you're going to die a slow, painful death Jason Grace." Maverick turned and walked out of the cave. I quickly followed to make sure he was okay. Maverick sat down on a log. I could tell that it was late into the night, about two in the morning. I sat down on a log opposite of Maverick and pulled up others to make a circle. I started a fire in the middle like I usually did when we were on the run. Maverick didn't say anything.

"Hey, Maverick? Do you remember when we first ran away?" I asked. Maverick looked up at me.

"Don't you want to talk about what just happened?" He asked.

"What's there to talk about? That guy deserved to die. You did the right thing. He would have just hurt more people." Maverick nodded along to what I was saying and then smiled.

"The first night when we ran away, you slept up in a tree because you were afraid that the monsters were going to get you." We both laughed at that.

"I was twelve. Give me a break."

"I know that's what I hate so much."

"What?"

"I was twelve too. I should be scared you know? I should be hiding up in that with you but I couldn't. We were pushed into this life too early. It's not fair." I nodded.

"The life of a demigod isn't fair."

"I think what scared me is how alike we are to them. Jason and Nico were normal campers who just couldn't deal with their life. I've heard stories of this Luke guy. He went completely rouge and housed Kronos but before he was like the leader of the camp. It just makes me wonder."

"How easy we could become like that?" He nodded. "Don't think that way." Jason's screams erupted from the cave and the whizzing of an arrow could be heard.

"I guess they decided to put him out of his misery." I nodded. "Do you remember when we first met?" I smiled and nodded.

"I was hiding behind a car from a pack of hellhounds and you shot one with an arrow. Fisher came to my side and you battled the pack by yourself while he made sure I was okay." He smiled. "That's how I know you and Fisher could never become like that. You care too much. You are the bravest guy I know and Fisher is too loyal to his friends like Percy. Both of you would die to protect us and that's something that Jason and Nico would never do." He smiled even wider.

"Thanks, Jules. I needed to hear that." I frowned.

"Don't call me Jules."

"Fisher calls you Jules. Why can't I?"

"He's Fisher."

"And I'm Maverick."

"Not funny."

"Oh, it's like a pet name for your lover. My bad."

"Lover? Really?"

"Yes lover, you guys are so in to each other." The rest of the group emerged from the cave.

"We will talk about this later."

"No we won't." Fisher sat down next to me on the log across from Maverick. Taylor and an injured Piper sat down next to Maverick across from us. Percy and Annabeth sat on a log to my left and Artemis sat by herself to my right.

"Did any of the hunter's make it?" I asked. Artemis shook her head with tears in her eyes.

"What happened in there?" Annabeth asked. No one responded. "Maverick, what happened." Maverick stared into the fire unresponsive. "Piper was unconscious, my friend, Thalia, is dead, Jason is dead, Nico is missing. So I will ask again, what happened?"

"Nico." I said. Annabeth looked at me.

"What about Nico?"

"Nico killed Thalia and knocked out Piper and then he vanished into a shadow."

"Maverick, what the Hades happened in there."

"She just told you." Maverick said while keeping his eyes glued on the flames.

"I mean, what happened with Jason?"

"I killed him."

"No you didn't kill him. You tortured him."

"I know and you put him down like old dog."

"No, I didn't." Annabeth took a shaky breath. "I unchained him and put an arrow through his good leg." Maverick looked up from the fire and stared at Annabeth. "We're a team. We're friends. We look out for each other. When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. Welcome to the family, Maverick."

"The family."


End file.
